Mauritius Stocks Rally Most in Two Weeks on Tax Reductions
Mauritius’s stocks gauge rallied the most in almost two weeks after the government said it will scrap capital-gains tax on property and abolish taxes on dividends.
The 38-member SEMDEX Index gained 0.8 percent, the biggest intraday advance since Oct. 25, to 1,906.66 by 12:17 p.m. in Port Louis, the capital. Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB), the Indian Ocean island nation’s largest lender by market value, advanced 1.8 percent, the most since Sept. 28, to 168 rupees.
Capital-gains tax will be abolished with immediate effect, and taxes on dividends and interests will be removed as from Jan. 1, Finance Minister Xavier Luc Duval said in his budget speech on Nov. 4, after the market closed.
“It’s a feel-good factor following several measures announced in the 2012 budget,” said Imrith Ramtohul, a senior investment manager at Mauritius Union Group, which oversees 6 billion rupees in assets.
To contact the reporter on this story: Kamlesh Bhuckory in Port Louis via Johannesburg at 1933 or gbell16@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net
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